The authors envision a world in which computers are provided for public use in locations ranging from coffee shops to medical office waiting rooms. In such a world, only when a user starts to use a computer will it acquire his unique customization and state, which will likewise disappear when he stops using it. <p>For this to be a compelling vision from a user's viewpoint, the customization and state acquisition process must be accurate and nearly instantaneous. For it to be a viable business model, the management and system administration costs of pervasive deployments of machines must be low. To address these challenges, the authors have developed <em>Internet Suspend/Resume</em>, a pervasive computing technology that rapidly personalizes and depersonalizes anonymous hardware for transient use.</p>